Hamlet is not the protagonistWhen reading Hamlet or watching an interpretation of the great Shakespearean tragedy, the casual viewer might be tempted to view the character of Hamlet as the virtuous individual who encounters sorrow because of a tragic flaw. This is, after all, the formula for all modern tragedy. In fact, the presumption is correct with one exception. Hamlet is not a virtuous individual. Although the play revolves around Hamlet, Hamlet is not the protagonist. He's more like the main characters in Day of the Jackal or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in that he's actually the antagonist or contra vida that the audience sympathizes with. The clearest evidence of this is the ease with which Hamlet is able to kill innocent characters and then ignore his actions. Examples of this are the time he kills Polonius and then lightly criticizes himself for killing the wrong person and the time he sends his innocent childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths because their disloyalty displeased him. Additionally, Hamlet also rejects the death of his love, Ophelia, when she drowns in the river. The reason Hamlet is like this is because he has lost faith in humanity; as G. Wilson Knight says, “He saw through humanity.” He sees the reality of the world as one where evil reigns. For this reason, Hamlet becomes cynical, in the sense that he criticizes the motives of others. An example of this is when Hamlet mocks Laertes' display of grief for Ophelia's death as he plunges into the grave after him. He does not believe that the feelings expressed by Laertes are sincere. For these reasons, Hamlet's "inhuman cynic...... middle of paper ......audius" is guilty. Although Hamlet is obviously the main character of the play, he is not the protagonist one might expect. He goes to the dark side when he swears to avenge his father's death. Hamlet had a tragic flaw, his inability to act when it was most important to him. It was not because of this tragic flaw that he encountered sorrow. His fault only brought him death. Without it, he would still be a miserable, slightly crazy cynic, incapable of finding happiness. Although Hamlet is obviously a tragedy, Shakespeare did not follow the tragic formula. Perhaps this is why the piece is so popular and is considered his greatest work. Works Cited Knight, G. Wilson “The Embassy of Death” London: Methuen & Co., 1954. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet New York: The Folger Shakespeare Library., 1992.